Nicholas W. McDonald, 32, was charged with second-degree assault, a felony, before Judge Jeffrey Wait, who set bail at $50,000. Police say that he got into a fistfight with a 31-year-old man at around 2:10 a.m. Sunday on Maple Avenue near Caroline Street. McDonald landed a punch that caused the other man to fall flat backwards and hit his head on pavement, Lt. Gregory Veitch said Monday morning. Nearby police wrestled McDonald off of the victim and arrested him, Veitch said.

“It certainly was a chaotic scene down there,” Veitch said. “It was clear that he was hurt bad almost immediately.”

The two men did not know each other but may have went out with mutual friends, police said. Emergency medical services took the victim, believed to be from Schenectady, to Saratoga Hospital. He was flown to Albany Medical Center Hospital for emergency surgery for head trauma and remained in critical condition, police said.

McDonald was taken to Saratoga County Jail. He is scheduled to appear in City Court on Tuesday morning.

Mr. McDonald may well be a “very nice” man. He may be kind, gracious, compassionate and generous.
When sober.

Drunks? They can be mellow and stumbling… or malicious and savage. And then there’s the vast majority that remain themselves at .08+ BAC.

But something has pulled the cork out of the Bottle we call civility, something dark and fearful and tense and afraid. I don’t see luxury cars flying out of the showrooms these days… in part because the economy isn’t pedal-to-the-metal in the driver’s seat. And pressure’s on to meet quota.

Would he have been a “nice” man if the bar had closed ten minutes earlier? I really don’t know. But Commissioner Franck’s call for earlier bar closings couldn’t hurt.

Ask the family of “the victim, believed to be from Schenectady.”

Please, blogger-to-be, wait for that answer before telling me about the “lost revenue” and “business closings.” Wait… or pause… until the victim can tell you if he is from Schenectady.

Ah, dealership employees at their finest. I don’t know anyone from Keeler, but have crossed a few from All-Star, New Country, Albany Dodge, and even Enterprise. Must be something about selling cars that makes them act like fools when drunk. Especially like, ” hey, you looking at my girl”, or ” yo, you stepped on my foot” or the even popular ” hey watch where you’re going sucka”. It really is ridiculous what booze does to people who are dumb enough without it in their system. Hopefully Keeler tells him, goodbye

Here in the USA someone is innocent until proven guilty, and I personally think we don’t have enough facts to go on other than this was another obvious example of the deterioration of the quality of life in Saratoga Springs. Something has to be done to regain control of our streets, even if it does cost a few business owners a few bucks. Are the profits of bar owners more important than the safety of the community? Does greed trump the desire of ordinary citizens to live in a safe community?

zyxw – you’re right. I’m sure Mr McDonald had a perfectly good reason to punch the victim, knocking him to the ground, and then continue the beating to the point it required him to be wrestled off of the victim by authorities. It seems completely reasonable.

Is anyone considering that there maybe extenuating circumstances that are not being reported by the media? Maybe Mr. McDonald was attacked and just defending himself. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? I would think a good reporter would get out there and actually gather ALL the facts before reporting just what the police are stating.

Hannah – these guys do OK, and I’m sure if you have some information they will report it. More importantly, if you know the alleged assailant, I would reccommend telling to hire a PI and take statements from anyone who saw what happened. It’s the only way the story will make it to court, and give you a chance against whatever story the police come up with. On the bright side, atleast they didn’t try to make this a hate crime.